Richard Brown wrote:
This is a sily question, but my only excuse is I'm trying to understand.
Thanks for your patience, understanding and answers!
Up to now I've been inserting my photographs and other graphics in a float.
But what is the float actually for? Can I just insert the graphics files
directly via the Insert > Graphics command? If I can, what are the
advantages and disadvantages of each system, that is with or without a
float?
You can insert graphics directly without a float.
This has one disadvantage, which is the reason why
floats were invented:
You have probably noticed that text isn't broken into pages in LyX. That
happens later, when you print (or make a PDF). The problem is - what
happens when there is a rather big image, but it doesn't quite fit?
For example, half the page is full of text, but now there is an image
that need 2/3 of a page. There isn't room for it, so this page ends and
the next page begins with the big image on top.
And the problem is that the previous page is now only half full. This
wastes paper, and it looks ugly and unprofessional.
Of course, you can place the big image carefully to avoid this. (Using a
pdf preview, and moving the image around.)
Now, consider a book manuscript with 50 such big images. Then you need
to add half a page of text in the beginning - everything moves, and just
about every image needs to be fixed again.
An automatic solution was needed - floats. With the image in a float,
this happens during page layout:
* If the floating image fits, it goes right there.
* If it doesn't fit, it still moves to the next page. But the current
page does *not* end. It is filled up with whatever text that comes
after the big image. So, no half-full pages any more.
* The price for this is that the floats not necessarily appear exactly
where you want them to be. (When they won't fit.)
As others have pointed out, floats also offers some niceties like cross
referencing and "list of floats". But the automatic and nice-looking
page breaking in the precence of (big) images is the main thing.
Helge Hafting
